Tagged: LGN

It’s been months since I’ve last posted on LGN, and it wasn’t because I didn’t have any news to post about.
I’ve been fired from my job as a Linux/Windows Sysadmin because frankly – there was almost no work for me there.
Since that time I’ve been searching for a suitable job, with no luck.
When I have no job (but have a lot of free time) I lose motivation and the will to live, so I stop seeking for news and posting at LGN.

Recently more and more people asked me to post news, and as this site was the longest thing I’ve ever did except living, I wouldn’t want to let it die off.

So I hope to resume posting in the near future.

P.SLGN Facebook group have migrated to the new format ,so all members need to rejoin the group.
So if you have Facebook and want to get updates, feel free to join LGN Facebook group.

Frankly I wasn’t sure LGN would get to this point, but after severaldomain and hostingchanges we survived 3 years today !
LGN tried to put a fewcontests over the years but unfortunately they failed.
Maybe I should setup something easier next time…
I’ve been very open regarding LGN and as with last time I’ll publish the stats for those who interested.
Despite all the visitors I have, I make ZERO $ on this website, and the hosting is generously provided for free by Linux Game Database (Thanks again Pheonton) – otherwise I’ve been forced to use the good old but limited wordpress.com

Please note that those stats are only for the last year ( 2010-08-17 – 2011-08-15) as I’ve moved to a new host and domain (Linux Game Database) , so without farther delay, here are the stats :

The basic graph shows the visits over 13 months, as you see we had good months and bad months (after the company I worked for got bankrupted and I got fired, I wasn’t in the mood to post much so the visitors came much less, but I’ve found a new job now).

Here is the graph with more detail (and numbers) :

Overall LGN had 132,858 views this year, which is a 23,975 increase over last year !
The most popular page was as usual the “main LGN page”, then “Trine And Trine 2 Are Coming To GNU/Linux !” and the third place was “Unity GNU/Linux Exporter In Development !” – the forth and fifth pages were the “Upcoming GNU/Linux games !” and “Recently Released”.
This is a bug change as the last two pages were always visible and updated every few months, while the others were “regular” news articles.

Here are the top links people loved to click on when visiting LGNAs you can see the top clicked page was happypenguin.org and close second was the excellent freegamer.blogspot.com blog about free source games.
Our generous host lgdb.org came third.

Those are the websites I own big thanks for referring to LGN, and the biggest of them all was reddit.com which I begun to update with LGN’s new posts less then a year ago.
The wikipedia article “List_of_adult_video_games” is still bringing new visitors to LGN.
Also about 1-2 months ago there was a strange day in which I had many referrers from gayclubsociety.com website which is very strange because I’m straight and my website is about Linux Gaming – a friend of mine suggested that they misspelled it as “Linux GAYming”
So thank you for redirecting to LGN !

The top search term was “linux gaming news” so people know what they looking for but always forget to add .org
Many people were interested in Trine so “trine linux” came second and more general searches followed.

Top Search Terms 2010-08-17 – 2011-08-15

Search

Views

linux gaming news

1,936

trine linux

1,051

linux gaming

569

brink linux

514

linux game news

407

primal carnage

352

amnesia the dark descent

334

udk linux

300

gish

262

linux games 2011

241

spacechem linux

226

dungeons of dredmor linux

223

lgn linux

223

brink linux server

195

linuxgamingnews

193

chicken invaders ultimate omelette

171

trine for linux

170

garshasp linux

136

jmonkeyengine

126

magical diary horse hall

116

linux news

111

iron sky: operation highjump

109

chicken invaders: ultimate omelette

108

garshasp

105

drakensang online linux

103

jbliss

100

hon trial account

97

sci fi room

92

linux games news

87

jbliss linux

85

deathspank linux

81

hon trial

77

linux games

77

gaming on linux

76

upcoming linux games

74

starfarer

73

hon trial keys

71

magical diary

61

brink opengl

61

dungeons of dredmor

60

linux trine

58

planet stronghold

56

trine 2 linux

55

chicken invaders 4 ultimate omelette

54

heroes of newerth

54

cortex command

51

cortex command linux

47

maxi mini golf

46

amnesia linux

46

trine on linux

44

This is the time to say a HUGE THANK YOU to LGN’s biggest single news contributor Grzegorz Budny who continues to send me great news !
For his great support I bought him the GNU/Linux game of his choice – Runes of Avalon 2.

And off course THANK YOU ALL, the readers, the most important part of any website, without you LGN is useless – I hope you will keep enjoying the website as long as it exists

As you may know, (if you are a regular reader) LGN tries to provide unique news about GNU/Linux gaming that weren’t published on other English “speaking” websites first.
So LGN often passes on news that were published before as they are no longer “unique”. (even if sometimes the news reached LGN first but were yet to be published)

Why am I doing this ?
First LGN’s motto was to provide “unique” news that were never before seen.
Second is that I assume that LGN’s readers also read websites like GamingOnLinux and Linux Games so I don’t want to look like I’m “stealing” from them (although I’m aware it’s a very common thing in the news business).

A friend of mine emailed me some great news that were already published on a few websites.
I told him that I cannot publish them on LGN because people already read it and I don’t want to repost the same “old” news all over again.
He said that LGN have different readers than on other websites and that I should spread the news anyways.
That friend got a point, if even 10% of LGN’s readers don’t read other websites – they might be missing some cool info.
But than I can’t say that LGN is unique at that respect.

What do YOU think ?
Are you missing news because I want LGN to be unique ?
Do you think I should post (or repost) news that were already published on other websites ?

Please comment below (and in the poll) as it would effect LGN’s future.

Do YOU Think LGN Should Post News That Appeared On Other GNU/Linux Gaming Websites ?

The regular visitors of LGN must be wondering why there are no news lately…is the website dead ?
Well, it’s far from dead, in fact I have several new games in development to write about.
But my personal life has taken it’s toll … about a week ago the company I have worked for, for the past 3 years has gone bankrupt and everyone was fired including me.
So now that I’m unemployed and searching for a new job I’ve taken some time off.
It’s not that I don’t have time to write articles, I just don’t have that feeling I had before, like “I got to tell those people about this magnificent game NOW”.
Tomorrow I’m going to the dead sea to leave my problems there
And I’ll be back refreshed with new games shortly.

As you see now (01/09/2010), LGN’s theme has been changed to the temporary http://LinuxGamingNews.wordpress.com theme, I want to give it another shoot and see if you like it.
The few things I didn’t like about the old “dark” theme is that when I highlight things in bold, the changes barley seen, the text isn’t clear and the page width is lower (although the latter I can change).
Also both themes “suffer” from “long posts” unlike the original old lgn.linux-hardcore.com theme, the whole post is shown and not only the summery.

So I’ve made a new poll in which you can decide again, what theme would you prefer for LGN :

The current theme :

The previous theme :

lgn.linux-hardcore.com theme :

If you have an idea about a whole different theme, please reply below.

Finally LGN found a new home under the roof of lgdb.org .
Pheonton has offered us this opportunity to regain the wordpress freedom that LGN missed.
If something would happen to this server LGN could always move back – but as we now have an official domain names :http://www.linuxgamingnews.org and http://www.linuxgamingnews.net you should always find the correct website.

In case you missed the old theme or just don’t like the new theme, I’ve made a poll – vote and be heard !

Last time I wrote that LGN is moved from the Linux-Hardcore server to the original wordpress.com server.
This is not the best solution as wordpress.com offers much less features then if I would install the FOSS wordpress on a hosted server – but it’s free hosting and fine for now.
If someone has a better offer for me, I would be happy to hear it.

(the .com domain is taken by some casino promoter with almost no content, I’ve tried to contact the owner – but got no reply yet).

The LinuxGamingNews.org is the official domain, at the moment those domains point to linuxgamingnews.wordpress.com but I might move to another server, so please use the new official address (that won’t change as long as I’m paying for them) and not the wordpress.com one.

Also I would like to remind you to stay up to date and subscribe to the new RSS feeds or the Email subscription (on the left side of the page).

wordpress.com offers 99 themes that change every now and then, I hope I chose the “right” one although I wish to show a summery only posts on the front page like I had with the old theme – but I didn’t find an appropriate theme for this from those that wordpress.com offers.
I can’t upload a theme either, so for now I hope it’s ok.

Now I have a very long job correcting all the links on LGN (which will be broken by the end of this month) – so if some links won’t work for you, be patient.

About a month ago LGN had it’s second Contest – best wordpress theme for the website.
After too much time without a single submission I thought that maybe, just maybe it was the modest prize that didn’t give enough motivation for the people to work on the theme, so Wupra offered an additional prize for the winner – but sadly that didn’t help either…

Creating a good theme isn’t that simple, although you can learn in a week how to edit an existing wordpress themes and you don’t have to be an artist (you can use already made free art), but the readers of LGN are GNU/Linux gamers – not the audience for the theme work, I guess.

I realize that LGN contests where very hard for the average reader, that is why I now ask YOU to give LGN ideas for contests and interesting stuff.
Also if you think you know what went wrong with the other contests (only 1 submission), please tell.

You can post your ideas and suggestions in the comments below or just send me an email at mb2love [at] gmail (dot) com .

I had other ideas for “community work”, but I really doubt that it will “work” now…
So to sum it up there is no winner, not this time.

Two weeks ago I’ve started the LGN Theme contest, but so far there wasn’t even one submission.
I would like to think that you are working hard and pushing the limits to the last day, but there is also the possibility that the prize isn’t good enough.
Leszek Sta?czyk from the Polish GNU/Linux game reseller Wupra has offered Airline Tycoon Deluxe or Knights and Merchants to the winner of the LGN Theme Contest.
This in addition to Sleep Is Death which was the first prize.

I’ve also extended the contest and all submissions must be emailed until the 30/06/2010 .
The next day I’ll put a vote for one week (if there will be any competitors that is…).
More info could be found at the first LGN Theme Contest post

Leszek Sta?czyk writes :
“Wupra (read voopra) is Linux Game store located in Poland and our main customers are from Poland.
My store is on-line since 21 August 2009.
Linux games are twice expensive for Poles than for British, German or French customers.
I’d like change it a little so I offer many games for Linux with the lower price as it’s possible (of course mainly for customers from Poland).
Price is very important so I don’t sell games which are overpriced more than it’s rational.
I’d like add some cheap games with English language version (final price maybe lower).

If you want suggest any other game with cheap price, don’t be shy and send an
e-mail: info@wupra.com to us and we see what we can do.”

Upon checking the Wupra store, the Polish (sometimes even include Russian) versions of the games are indeed very cheap, but while the English versions are much more costly they are still the cheapest you can find on the net ! (Native GNU/Linux Box versions).
The shop offers many games from LGP, RuneSoft, id software, Epic Games, indies and many more…
So even if you are not a Polish or Russian – it’s still worth taking a look at this online store.

Also I’ve asked Leszek Sta?czyk a few questions :

1. Will you offer a download versions (like Tuxgames) ?
I’d like too but I’m not a programmer so I can’t work on my own, I need somebody to help me with it.
BTW – Bandwidth is not a problem at all.

2. What about the English versions of the Polish games like Doom3 +Expansion, Unreal Anthology, E.T:Quake Wars etc… ?
Even if they will be more expensive then the Polish but less expensive then those games at other shops – it could be still worth it.
I’m working on it, I must find suppliers in UK.

3. Some “Polish” marked games on your website like “Unreal Anthology” and “Prey” says “English” if you look at their data sheet.
So are they in Polish or English ?
They are in English but UT2004 have only polish subtitles, English was ripped of by CD-Project.
I applied a patch for UT2004 but there are only partial English files.
When I say Polish that mean Polish cover, manual and Polish language if game have English language game data I added this information to “Data Sheet”.
I can’t add English subtitles without permission from Epic Games.

So if the data is in English, does it mean the whole game (not cover and manual) is in English ?
Correctly, only UT2004 text/subtitles are incomplete for other language than Polish, but the voices and the menus are in English.
I can ask Polish distributor for access and permission for add full English (or other) subtitles or Ryan help (he helped me with Postal X, I got permission from RWS to use Linux binary of Postal, Postal 2). I added information about ripped of English version.
Also it is possible to order the Full English version with manual and cover but at least 30 requests are needed.

Polish version of Prey is a little more complicated because there are 4 polish editions :
First edition is without polish game data (and polish distributor didn’t give me permission to add polish version.
That’s weird because their claim that they can’t because they can’t) but other have it.
2 latest edition have game data package in .bin files (Windows only).
Prey have Polish cover and manual and language version listed on page description in data sheet.

Can we remove the Polish subtitles from Unreal Anthology ?
I don’t want to make anyone confused, but if you think I should rename Unreal Antologia POLISH to Unreal Anthology I can do it.
For examples of Polish version of Defcon have Polish cover without manual, Polish game data but Linux version support only English language so I didn’t add POLISH for English description.

Other games with English and Polish game data but with Polish manual and cover:
- Doom 3 (Polish sounds are so stupid especially if some served in army,soldiers don’t talk with that stupid way)
- Tactical Ops: Wojna z Terrorem

Yesterday again the LGN daily visits record was broken, and reached 2,972 visitors (thanks to linux.org.ru), so it’s time for another contest…
This time the contest is oriented towards artists and web designers, although anyone can take part in it.
After the first week, LGN settled up on a wordpress theme which doesn’t really represent the websites theme – GNU/Linux Gaming News (and I was always too lazy to add the logo banners I’ve made very long time ago).
So I want you to create a WordPress theme which you think will represent LGN !

The Rules :
1. Must have a ‘Linux Gaming News’ logo at the top or top left if a mini-logo is used (I’ve attached 2 logos I’ve created at the end of this post, you may create others).
2. Must NOT be pornographic/racial/political/hate oriented theme .
3. Must be a WordPress theme which I could easily install (without too much configurations) :

Can be in a *.zip format which installs trough the WordPress management page.

Can be uploaded to any wordpress theme website (there are plenty), just upload and sent me the link to get/view it.

4. Must have at least one screenshot so I can put a vote on the LGN website.
5. All the submitted themes must be released by the author under the Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license (or later) or some other free license.

If you change/edit an existing theme to create your own work – be sure to have the full rights to do so and release it under the creative commons license (if it isn’t already under the CC-BY-SA) or other free license.

How will the winner be chosen ?
The winner will be chosen by the voters (the participators may also vote, but please vote just once), but I will have a veto if the chosen theme will be drastically worse in my opinion then the others or the current theme.

Please do NOT make threads asking people or/and friends to vote for your theme, make it fair and may the best theme win.

This contest however is not about the prize, but about the community and creativity.
Please note that your themes may be used for other sites as it will be released under a free license.

Rights
As explained in the “Rules” section ALL submitted works must be released by their authors under the Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license (or later) or some other FREE license.

How to participate in the contest
Please submit all themes to : mb2love [at] gmail (dot) com
The subject of the email must be “For The LGN Contest 2”
The email must contain a .zip file or a link to your theme, and at least one screenshot.
Don’t forget to include your name and/or a nick.

Logos (you may create others).

All competitors must send me an email by 30/06/2010.
At the next day the 01/07/2010 I will make a poll on the website so you can vote for the winner which will be up for one week.
After that I will post the results.